Academic literature on the topic 'Master Blaster'

Recently the Daily Post has been the favourite whipping boy of anyone who has anything to say about anything. We get blasted in Parliament, we get blasted by the Government, we get blasted by the Opposition, we get blasted in the newspaper, we get blasted on television and we get blasted on radio. Yesterday [24 February 1999], on page 6 of the Fiji Times, we received one of the cruellest cuts when a man by the name of Yogesh Prasad said: "One way the Government could have helped the Daily Post is by sending their reporters to schools to learn the basic [sic] of journalism and the editorial staff overseas so that they could learn to put [sic] a paper free of bias, master media ethics and cram proper gramer."

In order to fully meet bio-compatibility requirement of titanium alloy as implant material, coating with hydroxyapatite (HA) is normally applied. The present research concerns on the effect of substrate pre-treatment on the coating of HA on titanium alloy by high-velocity oxy fuel process (HVOF). Before the coating, all samples were pre-treated by thermo-mechanical treatment in order to obtain fine grain structure. Three type of substrate pre-treatment is then applied on different substrates, including, sand-blasting, sand-blasting+etching, and sand-blasting+etching+CNT intermediate layer. After coating, post-annealing treatment was applied on each sample and characterization was performed on the sample after the treatment. It was obtained that the sand-blasted sample has relatively rougher surface (SEM observation), lower degree of crystallinity (XRD characterization) and higher residual strain (XRD data calculation by Mud Master software) as compared with other samples. From FTIR characterization it can be obtained that all samples show no differences in orbital function.

Abstract Blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm (BPDCN) is an aggressive malignancy originating from neoplastic transformation of plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs). Although an initial response to chemotherapy is common, BPDCN prognosis is extremely poor and most patients relapse with drug-resistant disease leading to a median overall survival of ~1 year after diagnosis. In an effort to uncover novel molecular vulnerabilities in BPDCN, we combined RNA interference screening with high-throughput drug screening to identify pathways essential for the proliferation and survival of these cancer cells. This functional/chemical genomic approach allowed us to define a master regulatory network in BPDCN that is amenable to therapeutic attack. First, the E-box transcription factor TCF4, an important regulator of normal pDCs development, emerged from our RNAi screen as a essential for BPDCN viability. Consistently, expression of TCF4 shRNAs induced a robust and time-dependent apoptotic response, specific for BPDCN cells. We defined the TCF4 regulatory network in BPDCN, by profiling gene expression changes following induction of TCF4 shRNAs and by performing TCF4 ChIP-Seq in BPDCN lines. Notably, several TCF4 targets genes were expressed at higher levels in BPDCN than in normal pDCs, including proto-oncogenes such as BCL2, TCL1A/B and MYC. Conversely, TCF4 targets encoding for important regulators of normal pDC function (BCL11A, SPIB, IL3RA and CLEC4C) were selectively expressed at low level in BPDCN cells, indicating that the pDC-specifying function of TCF4 is attenuated in BPDCN to favor oncogenic gene expression programs. Importantly, TCF4 also served as a faithful diagnostic marker of BPDCN, and TCF4 IHC could readily distinguish BPDCN from BPDCN-mimics such as cutaneous AML. Second, 3 structurally different bromodomain and extra-terminal domain inhibitors (BETi's) emerged as highly toxic to BPDCN cells from our high-throughput drug screening .This was notable since BET inhibitors block the recognition of acetylated histones by BET proteins, one of which, BRD4, was among the hits from our shRNA toxicity screening. Consistently, expression BRD4 shRNAs or treatment with the BETi JQ1 resulted in time and dose dependent induction of apoptosis in BPDCN cells. Notably, TCF4 itself was strongly downregulated by BETi treatment and ectopic TCF4 expression was sufficient to rescue BPDCN cells from JQ1 toxicity, underscoring the functionally dominant, master regulatory role played by TCF4 in BPDCN. Mechanistically, we showed that the effect of BETi on TCF4 expression is mediated by the presence of a BRD4-dependent super-enhancer (SE) that controls TCF4 expression. Surprisingly, TCF4 itself was bound to its own SE and to the majority of the BRD4-dependent SE we mapped in BPDCN, enforcing a widespread regulatory network that is required for the viability of this cancer. Altogether, we uncovered novel molecular dependencies and identified TCF4 as a lineage-survival oncogene in BPDCN. More importantly, the TCF4 network in BPDCN can be targeted by BETi. Considering that the BETi CPI 203 was well tolerated in vivo andeffective as a single agent in reducing tumor growth in two BPDCN xenograft models, our findings support the clinical evaluation of BETi in this lethal cancer. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

AbstractGenome sequencing projects unearth sequences of all the protein sequences encoded in a genome. As the first step, homology detection is employed to obtain clues to structure and function of these proteins. However, high evolutionary divergence between homologous proteins challenges our ability to detect distant relationships. In the past, an approach involving multiple Position Specific Scoring Matrices (PSSMs) was found to be more effective than traditional single PSSMs. Cascaded search is another successful approach where hits of a search are queried to detect more homologues. We propose a protocol, ‘Master Blaster’, which combines the principles adopted in these two approaches to enhance our ability to detect remote homologues even further. Assessment of the approach was performed using known relationships available in the SCOP70 database, and the results were compared against that of PSI-BLAST and HHblits, a hidden Markov model-based method. Compared to PSI-BLAST, Master Blaster resulted in 10% improvement with respect to detection of cross superfamily connections, nearly 35% improvement in cross family and more than 80% improvement in intra family connections. From the results it was observed that HHblits is more sensitive in detecting remote homologues compared to Master Blaster. However, there are true hits from 46-folds for which Master Blaster reported homologs that are not reported by HHblits even using the optimal parameters indicating that for detecting remote homologues, use of multiple methods employing a combination of different approaches can be more effective in detecting remote homologs. Master Blaster stand-alone code is available for download in the supplementary archive.

Abstract Background The aim of the current study was to determine if 4 weeks of consumption of Bang® Pre-Workout Master Blaster® (BMB; Vital Pharmaceuticals Inc., Weston, FL) combined with resistance training resulted in greater increases in muscle mass and maximal strength compared with resistance training combined with placebo (PLA). Additionally, we aimed to determine if BMB ingestion combined with resistance training preferentially altered resting skeletal muscle expression of microRNAs (miRs) or resting serum insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1). Methods Sixteen recreationally-active men completed the study. The study employed a block-randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel design. Participants completed two testing sessions separated by 4 weeks of resistance exercise combined with daily supplementation of BMB or PLA. At each testing session, hemodynamics, body composition, and muscle and blood samples were obtained followed by strength assessments of the lower- and upper-body via measurement of squat and bench press one-repetition maximum (1-RM), respectively. A separate general linear model was utilized for analysis of each variable to determine the effect of each supplement (between-factor) over time (within-factor) using an a priori probability level of ≤0.05. Results No significant effects were observed for dietary intake, hemodynamics, fat mass, body fat percentage, or serum IGF-1. A greater increase in total body mass (3.19 kg, 95% CI, 1.98 kg, 4.40 kg vs. 0.44 kg, 95% CI, − 0.50 kg, 1.39 kg) and lean body mass (3.15 kg, 95% CI, 1.80 kg, 4.49 kg vs. 0.89 kg, 95% CI, − 0.14 kg, 1.93 kg) was observed for the BMB group compared with PLA (p < 0.01). A significant increase over time was observed for miR-23a (p = 0.02) and miR-23b (p = 0.05) expression. A greater increase in squat 1-RM was observed for the BMB group (23.86 kg, 95% CI, 16.75 kg, 30.97 kg) compared with the PLA group (14.20 kg, 95% CI, 7.04 kg, 21.37 kg, p = 0.04). Conclusions BMB supplementation combined with resistance exercise training for 4 weeks resulted in superior adaptations in maximal strength and LBM compared with resistance training with a placebo. No adverse resting hemodynamic or clinical blood safety markers were observed as a result of BMB supplementation. The superior outcomes associated with BMB supplementation could not be explained by resting serum IGF-1 or the skeletal muscle miRs measured, although resting miR-23a and miR-23b expression both increased as a result of resistance training.

Abstract Purpose The aim of this in vitro study was to quantify and compare changes of the enamel surface caused by periodical use of different air-polishing powders during multibracket therapy. Methods Bovine high-gloss polished enamel specimens were air-polished using an AIR-FLOW® Master Piezon with maximum powder and water settings. Each specimen was blasted with sodium bicarbonate (AIR-FLOW® Powder Classic, Electro Medical Systems, Munich, Germany) and erythritol (AIR-FLOW® Powder Plus, Electro Medical Systems). Blasting duration was adapted to the powders’ cleaning efficacy and corresponded to 25 air-polishing treatments in a patient with braces. A spindle apparatus ensured uniform guidance at a distance of 4 mm and a 90° angle. Qualitative and quantitative assessments were performed with the use of low vacuum scanning electron microscopy. Following external filtering and image processing, arithmetical square height (Sa) and root mean square height (Sq) were determined. Results Both prophy powders caused a significant increase in enamel roughness. Surfaces blasted with sodium bicarbonate (Sa = 64.35 ± 36.65 nm; Sq = 80.14 ± 44.80 nm) showed significantly (p < 0.001) higher roughness than samples treated with erythritol (Sa = 24.40 ± 7.42 nm; Sq = 30.86 ± 9.30 nm). The observed defects in enamel structure caused by sodium bicarbonate extended across prism boundaries. Prism structure remained intact after air-polishing with erythritol. Conclusion Both applied air-polishing powders led to surface alterations. Despite shorter treatment times, sodium bicarbonate was significantly more abrasive than erythritol. Clinicians must compromise between saving time and abrasively removing healthy enamel.

IntroductionWhat can we learn about anomaly from the strangeness of a puppet, a lifeless object, that can both bleed and die? How does the filming process of a puppet’s death engage across media and produce a new media genre that is not easily classified within traditional conventions? Why do these fighting and bleeding puppets’ scenes consistently attract audiences? This study examines how Pili puppetry (1984-present), a popular TV series depicting martial arts-based narratives and fight sequences, interacts with digital technologies and constructs a new media genre. The transmedia constitution of a virtual world not only challenges the stereotype of puppetry’s target audience but also expands the audience’s bodily imagination and desires through the visual component of death scenes. Hence, the show does not merely represent or signify an anomaly, but even creates anomalous desires and imaginary bodies.Cultural commodification and advancing technologies have motivated the convergence and displacement of traditional boundaries, genres, and media, changing the very fabric of textuality itself. By exploring how new media affect the audience’s visual reception of fighting and death, this article sheds light on understanding the metamorphoses of Taiwanese puppetry and articulates a theoretical argument regarding the show’s artistic practice to explain how its form transverses traditional boundaries. This critical exploration focusses on how the form represents bleeding puppets, and in doing so, explicates the politics of transmedia performing and viewing. Pili is an example of an anomalous media form that proliferates anomalous media viewing experiences and desires in turn.Beyond a Media Genre: Taiwanese Pili PuppetryConverging the craft technique of puppeteering and digital technology of filmmaking and animation, Pili puppetry creates a new media genre that exceeds any conventional idea of a puppet show or digital puppet, as it is something in-between. Glove puppetry is a popular traditional theatre in Taiwan, often known as “theatre in the palm” because a traditional puppet was roughly the same size as an adult’s palm. The size enabled the puppeteer to easily manipulate a puppet in one hand and be close to the audience. Traditionally, puppet shows occurred to celebrate the local deities’ birthday. Despite its popularity, the form was limited by available technology. For instance, although stories with vigorous battles were particularly popular, bleeding scenes in such an auspicious occasion were inappropriate and rare. As a live theatrical event featuring immediate interaction between the performer and the spectator, realistic bleeding scenes were rare because it is hard to immediately clean the stage during the performance. Distinct from the traditional puppet show, digital puppetry features semi-animated puppets in a virtual world. Digital puppetry is not a new concept by any means in the Western film industry. Animating a 3D puppet is closely associated with motion capture technologies and animation that are manipulated in a digitalised virtual setting (Ferguson). Commonly, the target audience of the Western digital puppetry is children, so educators sometimes use digital puppetry as a pedagogical tool (Potter; Wohlwend). With these young target audience in mind, the producers often avoid violent and bleeding scenes.Pili puppetry differs from digital puppetry in several ways. For instance, instead of targeting a young audience, Pili puppetry consistently extends the traditional martial-arts performance to include bloody fight sequences that enrich the expressiveness of traditional puppetry as a performing art. Moreover, Pili puppetry does not apply the motion capture technologies to manipulate the puppet’s movement, thus retaining the puppeteers’ puppeteering craft (clips of Pili puppetry can be seen on Pili’s official YouTube page). Hence, Pili is a unique hybrid form, creating its own anomalous space in puppetry. Among over a thousand characters across the series, the realistic “human-like” puppet is one of Pili’s most popular selling points. The new media considerably intervene in the puppet design, as close-up shots and high-resolution images can accurately project details of a puppet’s face and body movements on the screen. Consequently, Pili’s puppet modelling becomes increasingly intricate and attractive and arguably makes its virtual figures more epic yet also more “human” (Chen). Figure 1: Su Huan-Jen in the TV series Pili Killing Blade (1993). His facial expressions were relatively flat and rigid then. Reproduced with permission of Pili International Multimedia Company.Figure 2: Su Huan-Jen in the TV series Pili Nine Thrones (2003). The puppet’s facial design and costume became more delicate and complex. Reproduced with permission of Pili International Multimedia Company.Figure 3: Su Huan-Jen in the TV series Pili Fantasy: War of Dragons (2019). His facial lines softened due to more precise design technologies. The new lightweight chiffon yarn costumes made him look more elegant. The multiple-layer costumes also created more space for puppeteers to hide behind the puppet and enact more complicated manipulations. Reproduced with permission of Pili International Multimedia Company.The design of the most well-known Pili swordsman, Su Huan-Jen, demonstrates how the Pili puppet modelling became more refined and intricate in the past 20 years. In 1993, the standard design was a TV puppet with the size and body proportion slightly enlarged from the traditional puppet. Su Huan-Jen’s costumes were made from heavy fabrics, and his facial expressions were relatively flat and rigid (fig. 1). Pili produced its first puppetry film Legend of the Sacred Stone in 2000; considering the visual quality of a big screen, Pili refined the puppet design including replacing wooden eyeballs and plastic hair with real hair and glass eyeballs (Chen). The filmmaking experience inspired Pili to dramatically improve the facial design for all puppets. In 2003, Su’s modelling in Pili Nine Thrones (TV series) became noticeably much more delicate. The puppet’s size was considerably enlarged by almost three times, so a puppeteer had to use two hands to manipulate a puppet. The complex costumes and props made more space for puppeteers to hide behind the puppet and enrich the performance of the fighting movements (fig. 2). In 2019, Su’s new modelling further included new layers of lightweight fabrics, and his makeup and props became more delicate and complex (fig. 3). Such a refined aesthetic design also lends to Pili’s novelty among puppetry performances.Through the transformation of Pili in the context of puppetry history, we see how the handicraft-like puppet itself gradually commercialised into an artistic object that the audience would yearn to collect and project their bodily imagination. Anthropologist Teri Silvio notices that, for some fans, Pili puppets are similar to worship icons through which they project their affection and imaginary identity (Silvio, “Pop Culture Icons”). Intermediating with the new media, the change in the refined puppet design also comes from the audience’s expectations. Pili’s senior puppet designer Fan Shih-Ching mentioned that Pili fans are very involved, so their preferences affect the design of puppets. The complexity, particularly the layer of costumes, most clearly differentiates the aesthetics of traditional and Pili puppets. Due to the “idolisation” of some famous Pili characters, Shih-Ching has had to design more and more gaudy costumes. Each resurgence of a well-known Pili swordsman, such as Su Huan-Jen, Yi Ye Shu, and Ye Hsiao-Chai, means he has to remodel the puppet.Pili fans represent their infatuation for puppet characters through cosplay (literally “costume play”), which is when fans dress up and pretend to be a Pili character. Their cosplay, in particular, reflects the bodily practice of imaginary identity. Silvio observes that most cosplayers choose to dress as characters that are the most visually appealing rather than characters that best suit their body type. They even avoid moving too “naturally” and mainly move from pose-to-pose, similar to the frame-to-frame techne of animation. Thus, we can understand this “cosplay more as reanimating the character using the body as a kind of puppet rather than as an embodied performance of some aspect of self-identity” (Silvio 2019, 167). Hence, Pili fans’ cosplay is indicative of an anomalous desire to become the puppet-like human, which helps them transcend their social roles in their everyday life. It turns out that not only fans’ preference drives the (re)modelling of puppets but also fans attempt to model themselves in the image of their beloved puppets. The reversible dialectic between fan-star and flesh-object further provokes an “anomaly” in terms of the relationship between the viewers and the puppets. Precisely because fans have such an intimate relationship with Pili, it is important to consider how the series’ content and form configure fans’ viewing experience.Filming Bleeding PuppetsDespite its intricate aesthetics, Pili is still a series with frequent fighting-to-the-death scenes, which creates, and is the result of, extraordinary transmedia production and viewing experiences. Due to the market demand of producing episodes around 500 minutes long every month, Pili constantly creates new characters to maintain the audience’s attention and retain its novelty. So far, Pili has released thousands of characters. To ensure that new characters supersede the old ones, numerous old characters have to die within the plot.The adoption of new media allows the fighting scenes in Pili to render as more delicate, rather than consisting of loud, intense action movements. Instead, the leading swordsmen’s death inevitably takes place in a pathetic and romantic setting and consummates with a bloody sacrifice. Fighting scenes in early Pili puppetry created in the late 1980s were still based on puppets’ body movements, as the knowledge and technology of animation were still nascent and underdeveloped. At that time, the prestigious swordsman mainly relied on the fast speed of brandishing his sword. Since the early 1990s, as animation technology matured, it has become very common to see Pili use CGI animation to create a damaging sword beam for puppets to kill target enemies far away. The sword beam can fly much faster than the puppets can move, so almost every fighting scene employs CGI to visualise both sword beams and flame. The change in fighting manners provokes different representations of the bleeding and death scenes. Open wounds replace puncture wounds caused by a traditional weapon; bleeding scenes become typical, and a special feature in Pili’s transmedia puppetry.In addition to CGI animation, the use of fake blood in the Pili studio makes the performance even more realistic. Pili puppet master Ting Chen-Ching recalled that exploded puppets in traditional puppetry were commonly made by styrofoam blocks. The white styrofoam chips that sprayed everywhere after the explosion inevitably made the performance seem less realistic. By contrast, in the Pili studio, the scene of a puppet spurting blood after the explosion usually applies the technology of editing several shots. The typical procedure would be a short take that captures a puppet being injured. In its injury location, puppeteers sprinkle red confetti to represent scattered blood clots in the following shot. Sometimes the fake blood was splashed with the red confetti to make it further three-dimensional (Ting). Bloody scenes can also be filmed through multiple layers of arranged performance conducted at the same time by a group of puppeteers. Ting describes the practice of filming a bleeding puppet. Usually, some puppeteers sprinkle fake blood in front of the camera, while other puppeteers blasted the puppets toward various directions behind the blood to make the visual effects match. If the puppeteers need to show how a puppet becomes injured and vomits blood during the fight, they can install tiny pipes in the puppet in advance. During the filming, the puppeteer slowly squeezes the pipe to make the fake blood flow out from the puppet’s mouth. Such a bloody scene sometimes accompanies tears dropping from the puppet’s eyes. In some cases, the puppeteer drops the blood on the puppet’s mouth prior to the filming and then uses a powerful electric fan to blow the blood drops (Ting). Such techniques direct the blood to flow laterally against the wind, which makes the puppet’s death more aesthetically tragic. Because it is not a live performance, the puppeteer can try repeatedly until the camera captures the most ideal blood drop pattern and bleeding speed. Puppeteers have to adjust the camera distance for different bleeding scenes, which creates new modes of viewing, sensing, and representing virtual life and death. One of the most representative examples of Pili’s bleeding scenes is when Su’s best friend, Ching Yang-Zi, fights with alien devils in Legend of the Sacred Stone. (The clip of how Ching Yang-Zi fights and bleeds to death can be seen on YouTube.) Ting described how Pili prepared three different puppets of Ching for the non-fighting, fighting, and bleeding scenes (Ting). The main fighting scene starts from a low-angle medium shot that shows how Ching Yang-Zi got injured and began bleeding from the corner of his mouth. Then, a sharp weapon flies across the screen; the following close-up shows that the weapon hits Ching and he begins bleeding immediately. The successive shots move back and forth between his face and the wound in medium shot and close-up. Next, a close-up shows him stepping back with blood dripping on the ground. He then pushes the weapon out of his body to defend enemies; a final close-up follows a medium take and a long take shows the massive hemorrhage. The eruption of fluid plasma creates a natural effect that is difficult to achieve, even with 3D animation. Beyond this impressive technicality, the exceptional production and design emphasise how Pili fully embraces the ethos of transmedia: to play with multiple media forms and thereby create a new form. In the case of Pili, its form is interactive, transcending the boundaries of what we might consider the “living” and the “dead”.Epilogue: Viewing Bleeding Puppets on the ScreenThe simulated, high-quality, realistic-looking puppet designs accompanying the Pili’s featured bloody fighting sequence draw another question: What is the effect of watching human-like puppets die? What does this do to viewer-fans? Violence is prevalent throughout the historical record of human behaviour, especially in art and entertainment because these serve as outlets to fulfill a basic human need to indulge in “taboo fantasies” and escape into “realms of forbidden experience” (Schechter). When discussing the visual representations of violence and the spectacle of the sufferings of others, Susan Sontag notes, “if we consider what emotions would be desirable” (102), viewing the pain of others may not simply evoke sympathy. She argues that “[no] moral charge attaches to the representation of these cruelties. Just the provocation: can you look at this? There is the satisfaction of being able to look at the image without flinching. There is the pleasure of flinching” (41). For viewers, the boldness of watching the bloody scenes can be very inviting. Watching human-like puppets die in the action scenes similarly validates the viewer’s need for pleasure and entertainment. Although different from a human body, the puppets still bears the materiality of being-object. Therefore, watching the puppets bleeding and die as distinctly “human-like’ puppets further prevent viewers’ from feeling guilty or morally involved. The conceptual distance of being aware of the puppet’s materiality acts as a moral buffer; audiences are intimately involved through the particular aesthetic arrangement, yet morally detached. The transmedia filming of puppetry adds another layer of mediation over the human-like “living” puppets that allows such a particular experience. Sontag notices that the media generates an inevitable distance between object and subject, between witness and victim. For Sontag, although images constitute “the imaginary proximity” because it makes the “faraway sufferers” be “seen close-up on the television screen”, it is a mystification to assume that images serve as a direct link between sufferers and viewers. Rather, Sontag insists: the distance makes the viewers feel “we are not accomplices to what caused the suffering. Our sympathy proclaims our innocence as well as our impotence” (102). Echoing Sontag’s argument, Jeffrey Goldstein points out that “distancing” oneself from the mayhem represented in media makes it tolerable. Media creates an “almost real” visuality of violence, so the audience feels relatively safe in their surroundings when exposed to threatening images. Thus, “violent imagery must carry cues to its unreality or it loses appeal” (280). Pili puppets that are human-like, thus not human, more easily enable the audience to seek sensational excitement through viewing puppets’ bloody violence and eventual death on the screen and still feel emotionally secure. Due to the distance granted by the medium, viewers gain a sense of power by excitedly viewing the violence with an accompanying sense of moral exemption. Thus, viewers can easily excuse the limits of their personal responsibility while still being captivated by Pili’s boundary-transgressing aesthetic.The anomalous power of Pili fans’ cosplay differentiates the viewing experience of puppets’ deaths from that of other violent entertainment productions. Cosplayers physically bridge viewing/acting and life/death by dressing up as the puppet characters, bringing them to life, as flesh. Cosplay allows fans to compensate for the helplessness they experience when watching the puppets’ deaths on the screen. They can both “enjoy” the innocent pleasure of watching bleeding puppets and bring their adored dead idols “back to life” through cosplay. The onscreen violence and death thus provide an additional layer of pleasure for such cosplayers. They not only take pleasure in watching the puppets—which are an idealized version of their bodily imagination—die, but also feel empowered to revitalise their loved idols. Therefore, Pili cosplayers’ desires incite a cycle of life, pleasure, and death, in which the company responds to their consumers’ demands in kind. The intertwining of social, economic, and political factors thus collectively thrives upon media violence as entertainment. Pili creates the potential for new cross-media genre configurations that transcend the traditional/digital puppetry binary. On the one hand, the design of swordsman puppets become a simulation of a “living object” responding to the camera distance. On the other hand, the fighting and death scenes heavily rely on the puppeteers’ cooperation with animation and editing. Therefore, Pili puppetry enriches existing discourse on both puppetry and animation as life-giving processes. What is animated by Pili puppetry is not simply the swordsmen characters themselves, but new potentials for media genres and violent entertainment. AcknowledgmentMy hearty gratitude to Amy Gaeta for sharing her insights with me on the early stage of this study.ReferencesChen, Jasmine Yu-Hsing. “Transmuting Tradition: The Transformation of Taiwanese Glove Puppetry in Pili Productions.” Journal of the Oriental Society of Australia 51 (2019): 26-46.Ferguson, Jeffrey. “Lessons from Digital Puppetry: Updating a Design Framework for a Perceptual User Interface.” IEEE International Conference on Computer and Information Technology, 2015.Goldstein, Jeffrey. “The Attractions of Violent Entertainment.” Media Psychology 1.3 (1999): 271-282.Potter, Anna. “Funding Contemporary Children’s Television: How Digital Convergence Encourages Retro Reboot.” International Journal on Communications Management 19.2 (2017): 108-112.Schechter, Harold. Savage Pastimes: A Cultural History of Violent Entertainment. New York: St. Martin’s, 2005.Silvio, Teri. “Pop Culture Icons: Religious Inflections of the Character Toy in Taiwan.” Mechademia 3.1 (2010): 200-220.———. Puppets, Gods, and Brands: Theorizing the Age of Animation from Taiwan. Honolulu: U Hawaii P, 2019. Sontag, Susan. Regarding the Pain of Others. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2004.Ting, Chen-Ching. Interview by the author. Yunlin, Taiwan. 24 June 2019.Wohlwend, Karen E. “One Screen, Many Fingers: Young Children's Collaborative Literacy Play with Digital Puppetry Apps and Touchscreen Technologies.” Theory into Practice 54.2 (2015): 154-162.

Магистерская диссертация посвящена разработке программного обеспечения автоматизированного рабочего места (АРМа) технолога доменного цеха, которое позволяет сформировать технический отчет о работе доменного цеха за отчетный период (месяц/год) с использованием web-приложения. В ходе работы рассмотрены основные этапы реализации программного модуля: анализ предметной области, проектирование и программная реализация web-приложения. В ходе разработки программного обеспечения АРМа спроектированы и реализованы серверная часть системы и web-приложение на платформе ASP.NET Core. Серверная часть включает базу данных, которая является не только местом хранения данных, но и частично реализует функции бизнес логики. Приложение позволяет технологу доменного цеха с помощью пользовательских форм сопровождать базу данных отчетных показателей работы доменного цеха и формировать технический отчет за определенный месяц и сохранять в различных форматах. Научная новизна полученных в работе результатов заключается в разработке методов эффективной организации, ведения процесса разработки и сопровождения специализированного информационного, алгоритмического и программного обеспечения АИС АППС ДЦ, включая базу данных доменного цеха и средства создания технического отчета доменного цеха: использование гибкой методологии разработки (Agile, SCRUM) и таск-трекера Atlassian JIRA для ведения проекта, взаимодействия с заказчиком во время разработки, отслеживания ошибок, визуального отображения задач и мониторинга процесса их выполнения; функциональное моделирование процессов и подсистем для реализации web-приложения подготовки технического отчета доменного цеха на основе методологии IDEF0 и средства реализации Ramus Educational; использование методики коллективного владения программным кодом на основе сервиса (удаленного репозитория) GitHub. Практическая значимость результатов заключается в том, что разработанное программное обеспечение позволит: производить автоматизированный сбор и подготовку необходимых отчетных данных о работе доменного цеха за нормативный период (месяц); специалистам инженерно-технологической группы доменного цеха сократить время на формирование отчетных документов, сократить время поиска необходимой фактической отчетной информации за счет реализации эргономичного web-интерфейса; специалистам отдела сопровождения информационных систем снизить трудозатраты на сопровождение, совершенствование и развитие системы с учетом пожеланий пользователей. Результаты работы могут быть использованы также в учебном процессе для обучения бакалавров и магистрантов по направлению «Информационные системы и технологии». Результаты работы представлены и обсуждены на международных и всероссийских конференциях: VII, VIII и IX Всероссийской научно-практической конференции студентов, аспирантов и молодых учёных (Екатеринбург, УрФУ, 2018, 2019, 2021); XII Всероссийской научно-практической конференции (Новокузнецк, СибГИУ, 2019); 77-й международной научно-технической конференции «Актуальные проблемы современной науки, техники и образования» (Магнитогорск, МГТУ, 2019).
The master's thesis is devoted to the development of software for an automated workstation (AWP) of a blast furnace shop technologist, which allows you to generate a technical report on the operation of a blast furnace shop for a reporting period (month / year) using a web application. In the course of the work, the main stages of the implementation of the software module were considered: analysis of the subject area, design and software implementation of a web application. During the development of the AWP software, the server part of the system and the web application on the ASP.NET Core platform were designed and implemented. The server part includes a database, which is not only a place for storing data, but also partially implements the functions of business logic. The application allows the technologist of the blast furnace shop, using user-defined forms, to accompany the database of reporting indicators of the blast furnace shop operation and generate a technical report for a specific month and save it in various formats. The scientific novelty of the results obtained in the work lies in the development of methods for effective organization, maintenance of the development process and maintenance of specialized information, algorithmic and software AIS APPS DC, including the blast furnace shop database and tools for creating a technical report of the blast furnace shop: - use of flexible development methodology (Agile, SCRUM) and the Atlassian JIRA task tracker for project management, interaction with the customer during development, tracking errors, visual display of tasks and monitoring the process of their implementation; - functional modeling of processes and subsystems for the implementation of a web application for preparing a technical report for a blast furnace shop based on the IDEF0 methodology and Ramus Educational implementation tools; - using the method of collective ownership of the program code based on the service (remote repository) GitHub. The practical significance of the results lies in the fact that the developed software will allow: - to carry out automated collection and preparation of the necessary reporting data on the operation of the blast furnace shop for the regulatory period (month); - for specialists of the blast-furnace shop engineering and technological group to reduce the time for the formation of reporting documents, to reduce the search time for the necessary actual reporting information due to the implementation of an ergonomic web interface; - specialists of the information systems support department to reduce labor costs for maintenance, improvement and development of the system, taking into account the wishes of users. The results of the work can also be used in the educational process for training bachelors and undergraduates in the direction of "Information systems and technologies". The results of the work are presented and discussed at international and all-Russian conferences: VII, VIII and IX All-Russian scientific-practical conference of students, graduate students and young scientists (Yekaterinburg, UrFU, 2018, 2019, 2021); XII All-Russian Scientific and Practical Conference (Novokuznetsk, SibGIU, 2019); 77th international scientific and technical conference "Actual problems of modern science, technology and education" (Magnitogorsk, MSTU, 2019).

Целью исследовательской работы является определение химического состава, определение теплофизических свойств проб гарнисажного слоя и футеровки доменной печи №6 АО «ЕВРАЗ НТМК», определение механизмов образования гарнисажного слоя и коррозии огнеупорной футеровки.
The purpose of the research work is to determine the chemical composition, determine the thermophysical properties of samples of the bottom layer and lining of the blast furnace No. 6 of EVRAZ NTMK JSC, and determine the mechanisms of formation of the bottom layer and corrosion of the refractory lining.

Protein kinases, the third most populous protein family, are a major class of enzymes that regulate a wide range of cellular processes by phosphorylating multiple cellular proteins. There are many conserved sequence motifs within the catalytic domain that are essential for the regulation of the proteins, and the catalytic core is commonly shared across all typical protein kinases. In this thesis, we present identification and comprehensive analyses of Ser/Thr or Tyr (STY) protein kinases encoded in many pathogenicity causing organisms. The role of kinases in causing pathogenicity has been elucidated in many of the previous studies. With the emergence of diverse pathogenic species in the last few decades, the protein kinases of the pathogens and the respective hosts might have evolved to adapt to the hostile environment and tolerate stress response. Hence, it is essential to even perform a comparative study of kinases within pathogens against those encoded in their host species. Protein kinases can be identified using sequence-based approaches. However, some of the kinase subfamilies have highly diversified, and one requires sensitive homology detection approaches for their identification. Therefore, we developed a fresh protocol named "Master Blaster" for the detection of distantly related proteins. The performance of Master Blaster is evaluated by comparing against widely-used profile based and hidden Markov model-based methods. An improvement in fold coverage using Master Blaster is reported. We also used artificially designed sequences for detecting distantly related proteins using Master Blaster. Use of the designed sequences was found to be useful in connecting protein families that are highly diverged at sequence level. We applied the developed protocol to identify protein kinases encoded in Candida albicans and performed an extensive analysis of these kinases using sequence-based methods. A comparative study of kinases within C. albicans, pathogenic and non-pathogenic non-albicans Candida species, Baker's yeast and Human was performed. This study has resulted in identifying organism-specific kinases and signature motifs in kinases of pathogenicity causing Candida species. Domain architectures of kinases are also found to be organism-specific. Some of the protein kinases within industrial relevant Candida species such as Pseudozyma antarctica are found to be similar to those encoded in human. Kinases within each subfamily can recognize and phosphorylate multiple substrates and the substrates that are recruited could be specific to a particular kinase subfamily based on their functional role. Phosphorylation of specific substrates is possible due to the conserved substrate binding residues within in each kinase subfamily. Most of the kinase classification schemes depends on the conservation within the catalytic domain region and does not take into account the conservation within the substrate binding regions. This could lead to misclassification of some of the kinases. Hence, we proposed a new approach to classify kinases based on conservation of their substrate binding residues. Using the proposed scheme, we could identify signature regions within some of the kinase subfamilies and these regions can be used for the re-classification of protein kinases. In this thesis work, we also identified kinases encoded in viral genomes using rigorous sequence-based methods and reported the sequence similarities and differences between kinases within various viral genomes. Kinases are detected in viruses having double stranded DNA genome and in some of the subfamilies of retroviruses. In none of the host infecting viruses, kinases could be detected. The putative protein kinases from giant viruses are found to be similar to the retroviral oncogenic kinases. The substrate binding regions within some of the viral kinases are identified using the new classification scheme. This work can be extended by applying developed protocols for studying protein kinases encoded in different organisms.

The thesis is devoted to the development of software for the system of optimal distribution of fuel and energy resources in the group of blast furnaces. In the course of work, the main stages of software development are considered: analysis of the subject area; creation of software architecture, user interface, database structure; development of algorithmic support and reference documentation; preparation of the distribution. The result of the work is a software product intended for the engineering and technological personnel of the blast furnace shop of the metallurgical plant. The results of the work can also be used in the educational process for training bachelors and undergraduates in the areas of "Metallurgy" and "Information Systems and Technologies".
Диссертационная работа посвящена разработке программного обеспечения системы оптимального распределения топливно-энергетических ресурсов в группе доменных печей. В ходе работы рассмотрены основные этапы разработки программного обеспечения: анализ предметной области; создание архитектуры программного обеспечения, пользовательского интерфейса, структуры базы данных; разработка алгоритмического обеспечения и справочной документации; подготовка дистрибутива. Результатом работы является программный продукт, предназначенный для инженерно-технологического персонала доменного цеха металлургического комбината. Результаты работы могут быть использованы также в учебном процессе для обучения бакалавров и магистрантов по направлениям «Металлургия» и «Информационные системы и технологии».

DETEX Electronic Detonator made by Kirlioglu consists of an electronic circuit with communication and microprocessor and wire bridge resistance coated with explosive material. DETEX Electronic Detonator, which identity information, delay information, charge, discharge and all functions are controlled digitally, is a system consisting of all electronic circuit elements. The system consists of a communication circuit, a master control circuit with a microprocessor, a controlled charge, a discharge and an ignition circuit. With two cables, the circuit takes both the feed and the communication via the same two cables. With embedded software installed on the system, all functions are provided digitally via the microprocessor. DETEX Electronic Detonator can connect with Logger, Slave and Blaster in the field and significantly increases explosive performance due to its high accuracy and reliability fragmentation and material integrity, muck stack control (excavation rate and dust control), vibration control and repeatability. It can be remotely control a network with several explosion drives located in different parts of the mine, from a central location to simultaneously explode and it can use up to 1000 detonators when using a Single Blaster. The DETEX Electronic Detonator and Ignition System have the advantage in the case of any stray currents, electromagnetic interference, radar radiation or as well as its safety in the case of misfire. It cannot be fired simply by a battery or by other electric sources has a special secure encrypted communication protocol for both the ignition line control and the wired data transmission. In INSEMEX specialized department this product was tested with success in accordance with the requirements applicable and was certified for EU market.

In this paper, the numerical model was developed by using the commercial code LS/DYNA to investigate the dynamic response of sandwich panels with three PVC foam core layers subjected to non-contact underwater explosion. The simulation results showed that the structural response of the sandwich panel could be divided into four sequential regimes: (1) interaction between the shock wave and structure, (2) compression phase of sandwich core, (3) collapse of cavitation bubbles and (4) overall bending and stretching of sandwich panel under its own inertia. Main attention of present study was placed at the blast resistance improvement by tailoring the core layer gradation under the condition of same weight expense and same blast load. Using the minimization of back face deflection as the criteria for evaluating the blast resistant of panel, the panels with core gradation of high/middle/low or middle/low/high (relative densities) from the front face to back face demonstrated the optimal resistance. Moreover, the comparative studies on the blast resistance of the functionally graded sandwich panels and equivalent ungraded ones were carried out. The optimum functionally graded sandwich panel outperformed the equivalent ungraded one for relatively small charge masses. The energy absorption characteristics as well as the core compression were also discussed. It is found that the core gradation has a negligible effect on the whole energy dissipation of panel, but would significantly affect the energy distribution among sandwich panel components and the compression value of core.

The evaluation of fracture of ferritic steels using the methods in ASME Code Case 2564 for impulsively loaded vessels requires the static reference temperature T0 and the upper shelf toughness, and these are used together with the Master Curve to define the transition temperature curve. The effect of high rates of strain on the ductile-brittle transition is determined in the code case using a correlation due to Wallin. Two steels used for impulsively loaded vessels, welded steel similar to HY80 plate and a cast steel similar to HY100 have been evaluated to obtain their static fracture and strength properties. Additional instrumented pre-cracked Charpy testing using a draft ISO standard has determined the shift in T0 with high strain rates and the results have been compared to the Wallin correlation. The strain rate correlation is used to evaluate the fracture response of vessels made of these steels when subjected to internal blast. By using the instantaneous strain rates of the vessel wall vibration considerable gains in critical crack size can be obtained compared to using the highest rate throughout the whole of the transient.

The idea to use metamaterials to mitigate mechanical waves is recent and constitutes a technology under development. These materials have a special design, presenting characteristics not found in nature. The interesting feature is a negative effective mass density. This property is achieved by creating in the structure masses linked by springs which act as internal resonators and, as a result, it is observed that metamaterials act as mechanical filters, preventing or reducing the intensity of propagation of mechanical waves that travel in the structure, when the frequency of propagation is close to the resonance frequencies of the internal resonators. An internal combustion generates a blast wave which acts on a structure as an impulsive effort. This is a basic phenomenon in the shooting of an armament leading to this research that target to investigate the possible application of metamaterials to improve recoil mechanism technology. A recoil mechanism moderates the firing loads on the supporting structure by prolonging the time of resistance to the propellant gas forces. Depending on application of the armament, recoil can be very undesirable. Firstly, carriage mount where the armament is fixed will suffer premature wear. Secondly and more critical, if the armament is mounted onto a vehicle, its dynamics during shooting is completely affected and an accident can be caused when shooting occurs during a critical situation, like a curvilinear path for example. It is intended to use numerical simulations and experimental validation to verify the behavior of the designed metamaterial under a controlled impulse input. Finite Element Method (FEM) is used to simulate wave propagation through a common material and then through a special designed metamaterial to evaluate how this kind of pulse will be affected by internal resonators. After the simulations, a prototype adequate to validate numerical results will be investigated on a test bench. In a further development the impulse input will be adapted to real measured blast efforts.

The selection of excavation technology is one of the very important and demanding tasks when planning excavation in solid rocks, whether on a surface mine or construction pit. The variety of rock mass characteristics greatly influences the application efficiency of a particular excavation technique and technology. The discontinuous rock mass is easier to excavate compared to solid rock mass. Discontinuity is a well-known characteristic of rock masses, especially sedimentary ones, and this feature is very successfully investigated using non-invasive, fast and relatively inexpensive seismic geophysical methods. The results of seismic investigations are the velocities of compression or primary P-waves and shear or secondary S-waves. Some of the methods from the literature use the mentioned seismic wave velocities as the primary indicator for assessing the possibility of rock excavation. This paper presents the application of several such methods on the example of rock mass categorization for excavation in the ferry port Žigljen on the island of Pag. During field measurements, geophysical methods of shallow refractive seismic (SRS) and multichannel analysis of surface waves (MASW) were used. Based on the measured seismic wave velocities, the rock mass at the investigation site was categorized as a non-mechanically excavated material according to all classification methods employed. Therefore, blasting with the use of blast holes and explosives is recommended for excavation.

Rock masses are far from being continuum and consist essentially of intact rock and discontinuities such as joints. Presences of discontinuities affects the propagation of the stress wave in rock mass. In this paper the impact of joints properties and features on the dynamic response of underground cross-cuts to seismic loading induced during dynamic large-scale field test in Kiirunavaara mine, was numerically investigated. The numerical methods used comprise the finite element code LS-DYNA and the 2D Universal Distinct Element Code (UDEC). The LS-DYNA model simulated the blasting and acquired the crushed zone and the vibration velocities around the crushed boundary. The vibration velocities from LS-DYNA were then used as an input velocity in the UDEC model. The studies of parameters such as joint normal and shear stiffness, joint spacing and joint orientation were conducted. The vibration responses at the wall of the underground cross-cut from UDEC were analyzed and compared to observed field test results. The results show that the normal stiffness has large effects on the peak particle velocity (PPV) while the shear stiffness contributes less influence. However, changes on joint space and orientation affect the PPV at the wall of the cross-cut. The joint stiffness explains the quality of the joint to transmit the stress wave while the joint spacing, joint orientation describe the blocky in burden which explain number of times the stress wave will be reflected before reaching cross-cut wall. The analysis can be useful during designing of the blast, burden as well as cross-cut support.